24 Cylinders

Status Report

2008-08-12T09:42:00.001-07:00

So I should mention that I'm an Associate Producer at Obsidian Entertainment, working on Project Connecticut (aka the Aliens RPG). This means a lot to me - aside from the step into fulltime development, Aliens has always been a beloved franchise and I hope this project turns out as awesome as I think it can.

Coming into a project that's already in development is rough. Procedures, habits, even the way docs have been tagged and sorted are already ingrained (and more importantly, things like scope, the schedule, and whatnot); as a producer, I'd have felt much stronger coming in from the beginning, but that's not a complaint - just an observation. I think the product will be fantastic and I'm proud to contribute to it.

BlizzCon sold out incredibly quickly this year. As with most cons, I'm mostly just going to meet up with friends. Some of the Brotherhood will be there and I look forward to finally meeting some of them in person; they're the only clan I'm currently active with, other than the scattered remnants of Unorganized Raiding. At this point, the crew's had Kara on farm for some time and we're looking to take on ZA (some of us are already hardcore raiders who've been hitting it for awhile). Mostly, though, we're waiting on Wrath and being able to cobble together 10-mans. My favorite WoW buddies are a pair of teenaged boys, best friends out in some midwest state (sup Galahan, Goatboy) - interesting to me because neither of them are 18 yet. I have very little interaction with anyone younger than me these days.

Soul Calibur IV is sitting on my 360, but I got distracted by the Ninja Gaiden II demo (which was good, but somehow underwhelming). SC2 started picking up dust not long after everything had been unlocked, and I wasn't even remotely interested in SC3; unlike Third Strike, I just don't have any interest in the actual game mechanics.

Another Women in Games article. I think the problem I have with this one is that it doesn't really say anything... or is it just me? I didn't get anything out of the article; I read it, and didn't feel that I'd learned anything, or even been given anything to think about. It's almost like the article was written, just for the sake of writing - it did inspire much more thoughtful discussion on the forums, at least as far as analyzing the situation goes.

Golden Axe: Beast Rider (E3 2008)

2008-07-16T10:04:00.000-07:00

From Joystiq (whose community seems to exist entirely of 12 year olds):

"Rightly or wrongly, we don't have co-op multiplayer in the game," he [Sean Ratcliffe, Sega's VP of marketing] offered, a statement that was met with a short, yet uncomfortable pause. "I think as much as anything it's taking inspiration from the original series but in terms of that multiplayer co-op the developer decided that they didn't want to take the game in that direction."

When it comes to re-envisioning classics, you just can't get it right no matter what you do. Fans just don't seem to understand that sometimes, developers have a different vision of a game, and sometimes they believe in it enough to risk the ire of all the bitchy "old-school" fans that will give you a failing grade no matter what you do. Yes, the co-op was one of the reasons Golden Axe was great, but so was beast riding - and this time it's the focus. Watch the gameplay footage, and I think you can get an idea of how difficult it would have been to accomplish some of this gameplay with co-op.

E3 2008 Gameplay Footage

In particular, I'm referring to the cinematic fatalities and pace of action (particularly when the beasts are involved). Sure, you can accomplish this with splitscreen, and Gears managed to detail fatalities just fine, but that was without any massive scaling worries like "how do we manage to show the action when you're riding something the size of a T-rex?" I think I can see why the developers opted to go with a single-player campaign. The only thing I'm really unhappy about right now is the way they've handled object transparency for when the player is blocked from view by the camera.

I want to believe that they're all old-school Golden Axe fans like we are, that it was a tough and difficult decision but that we'll have a better game for it. In the end, I think I don't particularly care, so long as it retains worthwhile elements of the classics but shines on its own as a new title. Me, I'm pretty stoked - looking past my incredible hardon for the Tyris redesign, it looks like a pretty solid M-rated fantasy-action title, a genre I've felt sorely lacking since the original God of War.

I like Ivy just fine, thank you

2008-07-11T12:23:00.001-07:00

If only I had the time (and clarity of mind) to sit down and produce articles like this.

Oh, Kotaku, how I both love and despise thee!

Speaking of cleavage, here's another gorgeous Kotobukiya statue. I used to collect these in the past, though I cleared them out when I moved; only my Max Factory Kasumi made the cut. I really don't have the desk space (nor does it really suit my aesthetic) to keep amassing figures and toys, but old habits die hard!

a conundrum

2008-07-07T16:58:00.000-07:00

erik: youre just attracted to beautiful straight women
me: hahaha
me: yeah, i'm fucked
erik: and im attracted to beautiful lesbians
erik: we fail
me: LOL
me: we fail together ;_;

Rebranding

2008-07-03T14:28:00.000-07:00

My recent tasks have revolved around working with the Art Director on rebranding the company; new logo, brand statements, a major site facelift, and so forth. It's not just about the corporate brand - we're also working to change our own internal identity, and I've learned a lot simply through experiencing the creative backend required on such a task. It's a somewhat daunting task because we've been given five sprints of two weeks each to accomplish not only the branding but tech features and whatnot as well, in time to present at GDC Austin in September.

Working with the backdrop of two pre-existing brands (one of which has already had a facelift), both with troubled pasts, makes things much more complicated - particularly when you intend to expand your audience.

We started with mood boards, which we've tightened and refined somewhat; product, tech, and audience. Our magazines, unfortunately, were rather limited; I didn't have much to contribute other than Game Developer, Maxim, and Playboy (the latter of which I didn't bring, for obvious reasons). The Art Director brought in some design mags and artsy stuff, and we had some back issues of EGM lying around, but that was it - I think he also brought in a couple of his wife's fashion and entertainment mags. I guess that says a lot about our magazine habits?

The product board follows a gradient from hardcore to casual - dark bloody reds, earthy tones, into rainbows and unicorns and so forth. CoD4 to Peggle, that sort of thing. Tech was a bit more difficult; we were looking for a sense of sleek, easy to use, intuitive; I'd have summed that up with an image of the iPod, but I think we were also trying to pull interface ideas. The audience board also goes all over the place, but I think what we really wanted to go for was the feel of identity and independence. Guys in suits, punk rockers, little girls chewing bubblegum. The three boards were the basis of our color palettes and some basic logo ideas.

What I really got out of the mood boards was that projection can be fatal. Having been lead and assisted with jumpstarting several projects, I've noticed a lot of "well, it would be cool if..." oriented around users and community. It's a common enough problem; given the leeway, leads may show a tendency to project wishes to the point where it interferes with the original goals. I was guilty of this in a previous community development attempt; given a free hand, I attempted to orient towards an older, more mature community - the kind that I myself prefer to participate in. This was not what I should have expected or even wanted to accomplish, given our existing userbase; you can't expand your intended audiences too much too quickly, or you lose focus and turn them off in waves. You also can't really expect them to behave in any specific, given manner, even when provided explicit direction and guidance - but that also really depends on your pre-existing userbase (if any) and what habits have been ingrained, as they'll be the ones to direct incoming new users. This is why early community management is important, people!

That's another important lesson for companies that intend to expand; there's a fine line to walk if you intend to go deeper than simply being a portal like, say, Ijji and Nexon. Both are portal publishers for Asian online games, and feature a wide range of titles. The audiences can vary; the kids that play Kart Rider may very well be the ones populating Soldier Front, but what if you find that most of your buyers - and remember, this is in the context of an F2P market - are older, or prefer a certain look? What if they produce a sizable amount of revenue, but aren't the majority? Who do you cater to? Can you cater to everyone somehow?

I think Ijji's logo doesn't really say anything. Nexon's is kind of the three-dimensional, open-faced cube thing - I've grown used to it and made the assocation, but can a first-time viewer with no knowledge of the brand figure it out? Will they remember it? The challenge is hitting all your logo goals without beating any one point to death, while keeping an eye on all possible avenues, audience and location.

Logo thoughts we faced:
- Colors. A 'primary' color is important - VALVe just took orange, MS/Xbox has green, Nintendo's got gray and electric blue with the Wii, Sony's got blue. What about cultural associations? What about internationally? Some countries intensely favor or dislike specific colors.
- Typefont. Bold, strong? Friendly, soft? Generic? Memorable? Does it go well with the logo?
- Separation. How do the icon and brand name fare when separated? Do they still brand well?
- Individuality. Is it unique from other brand logos? Will we be compared to other brand logos? Will we be lost in the sea?
- Audience. How's this going to do with current and potential audiences?
- Previous branding attempts - how does this compare/contrast? Will the previous logo(s) and any branding they accomplished have an effect on the new logo's audience (the current users)?
- Man, I hope this doesn't look like ass on the business cards...

To close with some random thoughts, WIGI (Women in Games International) has some sort of mixer coming up in Los Angeles. I'm not active at all in the group, I'm just a member - but I have to wonder if I'd even want to meet up with a large group of women face to face. One of the advantages for me in the game industry is that I get to keep my preferred company of guys; I don't particularly enjoy making female friends, as we rarely have any personality traits or interests in common. I don't do my nails, I'm not particularly fond of shopping - you're more likely to find me at the Spearmint Rhino than you are at Southcoast Plaza.

That reminds me - I also need to write about Jade Raymond at some point.

Alive

2008-06-24T10:30:00.001-07:00

Yes, I realize I am a miserable failure at blogging regularly.

Things I need to blog about:

- AMD's RV770 chip. Holy sweet mother of Christ this blows me away. System overhaul in 3... 2...

- My current industry-related endeavors

- F2P as a service/experience market

- Girls in the competitive space; specifically, all-girl teams like PMS and the Fragdolls, what it means for us, the industry, and everyone else

- Games I am looking forward to

- Links to other industry-related blogs/ages I find useful or enjoyable

- More reviews!

I also intend to redo my vanity site at some point. Don't hold your breath!

New Capcomaniax!

2008-04-25T16:44:00.000-07:00

Available July 2008, at Y5575.

Ibuki? Yes please. I've spared you from the R. Mika, but those of you that are interested can click here.

hold me

2008-04-09T10:06:00.000-07:00

High-res scans of Gears 2 (Game Informer). I am moist with anticipation.

That's right!

2008-04-07T16:25:00.000-07:00

For the first time since that cold Orange County launch event in 2004, I've hit 40 - Idontloveyou is now happily geared in full plate and rollin' on a warhorse.

say what?

2008-04-03T15:42:00.000-07:00

While I wouldn't say I'm a "fan" of Razer (the company, their image, or even most of their hardware) they make some damn fine mice and I remain devoted to my Copperhead. However, a recent blog entry has me disappointed - and remember, I bat for both teams, so I'm all for hot girls losing articles of clothing.

Yeah, it was at a show (in Germany, which supposedly makes a difference), booth girls are the norm, and all that shit - but as a a) female competitive gamer and b) female professional in the gaming industry, I'm disappointed in Razer (a major player in the competitive gaming scene, at least in my eyes) and appalled that to them, it was OK for some chick to strip for free shit; this is assuming they didn't actually encourage it, which unfortunately I'm inclined to believe is the case.

For those of you with dicks, understand that it can be really fucking uncomfortable enough being a female gamer. Bill Fulton has an article up on Gamasutra called Fixing Online Gaming Idiocy that you may find worth reading, if you find this kind of stuff interesting. As usual I may not agree with all points made, but he has a pretty good analysis of why some people just don't game online, and a lot of it pertains to us of the fairer, supposedly gentler sex. For girls, aside from the usual flood of retards hitting on you, giving you preferential treatment (I can get my own AWP, thanks) and so forth - there's also the direct negative feedback; girls don't game, girls can't be good at FPS, and so on. Or you're playing it for your boyfriend. You certainly couldn't have gotten those epics on your own, so either you slept with someone or you're dating the guild leader. And your accuracy, that you can bhop backwards through dust with your eyes closed, your K:D ratio, that you lead in flag caps, your perfectly balanced raid gear, none of that shit matters, to them you're a girl and therefore you have no idea what the fuck you're doing and you either need to be coddled or put in your place. There's a reason a lot of us won't use our usual handles and mute our mics - it's because a lot of guys are idiots or just plain douchebags. Anyway, I didn't mean to go into that rant - I think it's more important to go over the moebius strip of fail we're stuck in.

Booth babes and scantily-clad avatars are the more publicized issues, but really - that's just not it. We're surrounded by guys, the industry caters to them - makes sense and from my position I'm part of the problem, so to speak, because part of me is totally down with this shit. It's a rough place to be, particularly because I'm a dyke; there's a lot of conflicting interests and I hope that I can expand upon them once this blog actually gains a sense of coherency. Anyway, my point is - and I know some other, probably more eloquent ladies in the industry have written about it from a studio standpoint - it's not a welcoming environment. People say "well if more girls were in, they could turn this shit around" - but the environment isn't friendly to them, so what the fuck, right? Dev studios are much better these days, but the actual gaming scene is pretty gamer-girl unfriendly. It's not so bad in MMOs, but in FPS, and particularly the competitive gaming scene (thanks a lot for encouraging this shit, Razer) it's even worse.

Oh, and might I direct you once again to this fantastic read.

High Rollin': Devil May Cry 4

2008-02-26T15:14:00.000-08:00

It's Devil May Cry. Do I really need to say much more? It's a fast-paced action slash/gunplay game with minor puzzle and platforming elements. It's a lot of bloody, gothy, sexy fun.

Presentation
Maybe it's the dearth of classic Gothic style in other games (although this seems to be more trendy lately), but DMC4's visual aesthetic has always had a special spot in my heart. The character design was somewhat disappointing - while their take on the angelic themes are interesting (kind of a toned-down Persona, maybe?), some of the character and monster designs are bland or overused. Yeah, the dancing crackpuppets are back.

While the Dante x Nero undertones are more yaoitastic than I'd like, the developers have seen fit to grace us with the laughably oversexed and somewhat oddly attired Gloria, who definitely puts a little extra oomph into her cutscenes. No Gloria x Lady, though. Capcom would have to be blind to not realize that a little yaoi fanservice can go a long way, but you'd think that they could throw in some girl on girl for the hetero male fans (and, well, the resident gamer dykes like me) that are into that sort of thing. You know, even out the balance of the Force and all that.

To wander into that tangent, it blows me away that we're seeing more and more "mature" games that can handle sexuality the way they do - it can be a selling point (DoAX), but at the same time we have games that take it seriously, or alternately slip it in to be both sexy and funny. It's a good time to be an adult gamer!

Back to the review. The cutscenes come fairly often, and yes, there is a plot of some sort, though to be honest I really wasn't paying too much attention. They're beautiful, just like the game.

The fourth installment of DMC is as over-the-top as its predecessors, and I wouldn't have it any other way. However, it does suffer from an emotastic hero who, predictably, is chasing after a kidnapped love interest for whom he angsts loud and often. The trailer pretty much sums things up.

Unfortunately, DMC4 does suffer from bizarre and sudden camera angle shifts that will totally fuck your shit up when you're trying to deal with platform / Bringer-bungeeing areas, but it's not gamebreaking... just really fucking annoying. This is probably one of the only real gripes I have with the game, and it doesn't happen often enough to induce a blinding rage.

Gameplay
I was disappointed by the lack of weaponry - it's Blue Rose, Red Queen and Devil Bringer (Nero's demonic arm) all the way, save for a partial runthrough as Dante. But the Devil Bringer adds a little juice, and it's still the good ol' hack, slash, and occasional blam-blam-blam that we've come to love and expect. Aside from the Bringer and some related elements, DMC4 really doesn't bring anything new to the table. You're still graded on Style, you still buy items and skills from statues, there are Secret Missions scattered about the various levels. Game progression is very linear, but that's not necessarily a complaint.

While I can't say that DMC4 is innovative or "special" - it really is just another DMC - there's nothing really bad to say about it, other than the cheap "hey weren't those boss battles awesome, let's fight them again and again" thing they have going. I didn't finish Metroid Prime because the developers saw fit to make me wander the entire fucking grid all over again when I thought I was actually near the end - fuck your Artifacts, I say! - but at least DMC4 switches it up a little by throwing Dante into the mix.

Overall
It's fucking Devil May Cry. How can I say no?

Maybe I'm becoming a bit of a current-gen whore, but this is definitely my favorite of the series so far, and I liked its predecessors quite a bit. If you liked the others in the series, it's a must-buy; if you haven't tried DMC but the trailer piques your interest, this is a great introduction to the series.

Thumbs Up!

Gears of War 2 confirmed (like anyone wasn't expecting it)

2008-02-20T10:48:00.001-08:00

For those not following GDC, the release for Gears 2 is set for November this year, just in time for the holidays - and just in time to save my boyfriend (again) from not knowing what present to get me. For those of us that aren't particularly interested in Spore, this is probably the best gaming news we've heard in awhile! The Gears toys look fantastic and should be available later this year as well, although there's no Dom in the first set. There is, however, a Locust mid-headshot - on the receiving end, which was an interesting choice.

Other than that, SFIV and KoF XII both seem to be shaping up quite nicely, as shown at AOU earlier this month. As a Third Strike devotee, I'm kind of iffy on IV, particularly the visual style - and I don't care much for the new challengers, C. Viper and Abel - but it looks like it could turn out to be a solid competitive fighter. KoF XII looks positively gorgeous, at least from the media that's been released - 3d models on a 2d plane, it seems? I haven't looked at the character roster yet, but I'd really like to see Angel again. Certainly not for her, um... assets. The new Samurai Spirits Sen is, unfortunately, 3d... and for the few of us that played SS64 and 64-II (not to mention the atrocious home version of Warrior's Rage), we know that this is not a good thing.

Quake Live (formerly Quake Zero) beta signups are up, though there's precious little (read: nothing) else up on the site. The idea of trying to play old-school Quake with ads running in the background is a little iffy to me, but hey - the idea of classic, competitive FPS gaming with strong competitive community support sounds like a revolution waiting to happen, particularly because it's browser based. And now we've got "freemium" to go with hip marketing phrases "Play4Free" and "Free2Play."

With the rumored pseudo-death of CPL (and, by extension, CAL), competitive FPS gaming seems to be having a rocky time, although the Beijing Olympics showcasing competitive gaming as a welcome event may help inject some much-needed legitimacy into the scene. They haven't announced which games will be played, but... anyone guessing we'll see a little Zerg action?

Back to Azeroth (yet again)

2008-02-11T11:41:00.000-08:00

I've been on World of Warcraft on and off since the midnight launch at our local Fry's, thanks to a guest account from one of my Blizzard homies. As it turns out, some of my partners in crime at the office have decided to take it up again, so I'll be rolling a new main on Frostwolf tonight.

Perhaps uncoincidentally, I stumbled across this article about sexism in WoW. I never had much of a problem with it, but then again I'm not exactly a typical gal. Admittedly, I was somewhat surprised to see that some of the reader comments on the blog actually had some sound thought behind them.

Just shoot me now

2008-01-30T09:41:00.000-08:00

I don't know what's more depressing, the recent media clusterfuck regarding Mass Effect, or this.

So Much Potential: Assassin's Creed

2008-01-22T10:54:00.000-08:00

It's like Metal Gear, except in the Middle Ages. With some very bad design decisions. And a somewhat sexier protagonist.

You are Altaïr, a cold-blooded killer who manages to skirt rooftops, dodge hordes of medieval cops and shank bitches without raising his heartbeat (or his voice) much. Your goal is to shank a specific set of losers, namely Templars; along the way you will piss off a whole lot of villagers, endure long philosophical speeches from guys while they're en route to the fucking afterlife, and probably fall off of a lot of buildings.

Presentation: Experience 1191 AD like never before. If there's one thing that Assassin's Creed got right, it's the visuals; the dirty, chipped architecture, characters, and especially Altaïr's fluid movement. This is one beautiful game, folks. Even playing the 360 edition on standard definition, I was able to make out the level of grit the artists managed to lovingly slather on each and every object.

The plot is what I'd call fair but poorly presented, as the "spoiler" happens about ten minutes in and I'm still not sure if the game is better for it. The way in which the side-story is presented to you is terrible, as it pulls you away from the game and the wild, free movement that makes Altair such a pleasure to control. Additionally, the revelations that follow each assassination soon become a string of tired clichés.

Ambient audio is immersive, if repetitive; after being forcibly manhandled by a whiny vagrant one time too many, I went on a killing rampage and incurred the wrath of the local law enforcement. There were many more of them than there were of me; the game ended shortly thereafter, which brings me to my next point:

Gameplay: This is probably the most repetitive game I've played in years. Your missions consist of climbing rooftops, which will then net you objectives like picking pockets, eavesdropping, and.. well, that's about it. Completing enough objectives will let you progress to the assassination attempt. You can also save villagers from 1911AD equivalent of police brutality (this is where the "combat" comes into play, and I use the term loosely), who will bleat for help with the same fucking sound sample every ten seconds; doing so will prove helpful after you've accomplished your assassination, as the unwashed masses of medieval law enforcement will fall upon you like New England's defensive line on their way to the '08 Superbowl. The villagers will repay you for your earlier kindness by acting as a buffer. You will spend a lot of time on a horse. After each assassination, you will rinse and repeat the same formula OVER AND OVER until the game is completed. You will get an occasional change of scenery and the number of guard lackeys using cheap tactics to gangbang you into submission will simply increase with each progressive target.

The AI is a tad on the slow side and combat gets a "meh," as it mostly consists of holding the right trigger and trying to time button presses for successful counters. Another reviewer called it "DDR for Assassins" and he's not far from the mark.

Overall: It's a beautiful game. It's an incredible concept. I wanted to love this game, god damn it. But the gameplay is sadly lacking and I just wasn't into it enough to play more than half a mission or so at a time; don't get me wrong, it is definitely worth playing, if only to experience the sheer, grandiose vision of it all. But once you realize that you're simply playing the same mission over and over, the vision fades and you're left with wasted potential that will hopefully be picked up and given fresh life in the inevitable sequel.

Thumbs... Meh